Michael Stickings
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Reviews (246)
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Reviews
Vale Do Bomfim 2013, Doc Douro
Douro, Portugal$12.75
Yet another astonishingly good value from Portugal, this Port-varietal blend has a sexy nose of ripe dark berries, sugared plums, new leather, rocky minerality, and bitter herbs, with berry tartness on the palate cutting through the richness. The nose is actually quite impressive, with the various savoury elements adding complexity, but the flavours don't match the aromas and thin out into a flat, somewhat bitter stream, and while overall it's nicely structured, pillowy but with muscular fortitude, the texture does turn rough and chalky. But for this price and with that nose? Impressive.
3.0 Stars
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Luis Felipe Edwards Reserva Shiraz Cabernet Sauvignon 2014
Chile$8.95
There's a lot of wine here for the money, a solid, uncomplicated Syrah-Cab blend bringing notes of cassis, raisin, blackberry, mint, and black pepper, with unobtrusive meaty notes lurking in the background. On the palate, it's rough and gritty on the one hand but fresh and vibrant on the other, and the mouth-watering, red-berry acidity suggests its raw youthfulness is just the beginning. Super value, but it certainly stands on its own merits.
3.0 Stars
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Jané Ventura Reserva De La Musica Brut Nature 2010, Do Cava
Penedès, Spain$17.95
This Cava from Lower Penedès is low on fruit, but there's abundant lemon and apple, the former providing tartness, the latter providing richness. But the focus is on the savoury elements, grass, herbs, and raw nuts but more notably olives, the brine leading to a distinctly salty, brilliantly food-friendly finish. This is so vivacious and refreshing, powerful, with small but aggressive bubbles, yet also restrained and refined. It could use more fruit to balance the rest, but this is impressive Cava at a great price. (First bottle: 89. Second, with less fruit and too much briny caper: 87.)
3.0 Stars
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Terredora Falanghina 2014, Igt Campania
Campania, Italy$16.95
This is what I love about Italian whites: an obscure, local, distinctive grape, subtle and restrained, nutty but sufficiently fruity, bitter but sufficiently sweet, immensely food-friendly, great value. Not much depth or intensity, but there's a lot going on with notes of almond, hazelnut, orange, lemon, and citrus pith and zest, with mild minerality and an emerging touch of tropical fruit, mostly pineapple. It has its limitations, including a bit too much bitterness on the finish and a sense of excessive oxidation by the second day, but it's quite impressive without being showy in any way.
3.0 Stars
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Lungarotti Rubesco Sangiovese/Colorino 2012, Doc Rosso Di Torgiano
Umbria, Italy$19.95
Here's a fine blend of Sangiovese (90%) and Colorino (10%) that works better with food than it does on its own. It offers earthy and dusty notes behind tart, lean cherry, raspberry, and cranberry, with a touch of brown spice and a nice iron/mineral streak that I associate so much with Italian reds. There just isn't all that much depth to it, and it fades away far too quickly once the tartness refreshes the palate. Perhaps it could have used some Canaiolo, which was included in previous vintages, to provide softer fruit and better balance, but, as it is, it works well enough.
3.0 Stars
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Zenato San Benedetto Lugana 2014, Doc
Veneto, Italy$19.95
Here's a solid, typically food-friendly Italian white made by a solid, reliable producer. And it's very good, if not terribly exciting. Made from the Trebbiano di Lugana grape (Turbiana) on the south coast of Lake Garda, it offers notes of lemon, apple, and stone fruit, with almond providing that characteristic Italian touch. It's zippy and refreshing but also quite restrained, a touch of elegance elevating it above the basic. While not terribly complex, it does have decent flavour depth and impressive length, crispness but also nice body. Nicely done, overall, even if it falls a bit short.
3.0 Stars
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Lingenfelder Bird Label Riesling 2013, Qualitätswein
Pfalz, Germany$11.75
This solid-value Riesling from the Pfalz is so good... and then so not. It is, at first, just as you might expect, a straightforward, uncomplicated expression that is also very tasty, off-dry but only just, with soft peach and pineapple accented with lime and slate. There isn't enough acidity, nor enough minerality, but the ripe tropical and orchard fruit is nice. But with time, things really fall apart. The fruit just seems to crumble, and what's left is an almost undrinkable mess of stale nuts, bitterness, and an odd funk. This was an 87-88, then a 79-80. Drink it right away.
3.0 Stars
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Idaia Kotsifali/Mandilari 2010, Pgi Crete
Greece$14.75
This delicious Cretan red plays like a well-composed Bordeaux or Loire blend built around Cabernet Franc, with luscious dark berries and cherry-pomegranate tang intermingling with leather, earth, mint, black pepper, graphite, cedar/pine, and glycerin through to a smoky, spicy finish. It's quite rustic initially, so decant it for a bit, even for a few hours, or better yet let it sit for a day, by which time everything has come together, it's deeper, richer, and even more complex, and the rusticity has given way to Bordelais elegance. Lovely now, but with the stuffing to go further. A great find.
3.0 Stars
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Porta 6 2013, V R Lisboa
Portugal$13.95
This Aragonez-Castelão-Touriga Nacional blend from north of Lisbon comes across at first like decent Merlot, with its softness, sweetness, juiciness, and aromatic abundance of red and darker berries, cherries, and other dark fruit, though time brings complexity with vague floral and herbal elements along with leather and Syrah-like meaty and peppery notes. But the bold flavours are muddled, the combination rough and brooding, with a tinny metallic note, and it needs some acidity to pull it up out of the morass. Still, exceptional value for a serious, intriguing, and versatile wine.
3.0 Stars
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Pasión De Bobal 2012, Dop Utiel Requena
Spain$14.75
This opens with a burst of confected sweetness that's like opening a bag of cheap fruit gummies -- an aroma of fake cherries and berries (mixed with rubber). That overpowering aroma remains, but the wine does settle down to reveal a more complex array of elements, such as vanilla, earth, black pepper, chocolate, and red licorice, the last of which is quite prominent on the palate. The curious aspect is the acidity, which just isn't there initially, a sort of gooey flabbiness prevailing. Time and a light chill help, but ultimately this is just a decent curiosity fabricated for commercialism.
3.0 Stars
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